I was not happy with my result in Wijk aan Zee. After starting the tournament with a strong 3/4 I broke down after losing a drawn endgame in the fifth round against the eventual winner, GM Vocaturo. It was a tough pill to swallow. Losing such an important game to the tournament leader, while hoping to fight for first place, was not easy. It stayed in the back of my mind for some time.

The tournament involved a lot of ups and downs. Opening weaknesses were clear. I had problems playing with Black against 1.e4. I lost three games in three different openings there. I did not have similar problems against 1.d4. I was not playing with urgency in my losses in the Sicilian and Pirc. That will definitely be something to work on and look into.

The tournament was one of the tougher ones of my career. I went in with high expectations. This tournament was different from others in two main ways. A very long time control is implemented for the event at 100min/40moves + 50min/20moves + 15min/rest of the game, as well as 30sec added from the first move. The same time control was used in my next tournament in Moscow. The time control made the game much longer but also increased the level of play in a lot of games. The tournament also lasted 13 rounds. I have not played 13 games in a tournament in a very long time (I cannot recall the last time). Three rest days made the tournament even longer, but allowed for the players to maintain a high level of energy, as it allowed the players to relax. It’s always nice to finish such long tournament well and I was fortunate to do just that here. Two wins to finish the event put me in a tie for fourth.

I’ve had some time to reflect on my experiences in Wijk aan Zee since the tournament has ended. I have even had the time to play in another tournament since then. My impressions remain the same. The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is the best organized chess tournament I have ever witnessed. The organizers took care of absolutely everything. It was an extraordinary event, with great treatment and a phenomenal atmosphere. The level of competition was also strong all around. It was a pleasure to have the best chess players in the world playing just meters away.

Now to the lighter side of the wrap-up. I previously wrote about the soccer match played during the first rest day. I thought it would be a good addition to have my chosen MVP write a short summary of the match. Magnus’ summary below shows he has more talents than just chess and soccer:

“On a cold and windy day, in Wijk aan Zee, nine bold chessplayers came to play. Soccer was the game, and Smeets was to blame, for the Dutch defeat, it was such a shame. He missed every shot, and lost the plot. And neither was Hammer the man to jot the ball in the net, and with great regret, he had to concede that Carlsen was great, his brilliance was such, that it must have been fate. And thus ends the tale of a beautiful game, and the four brave young men who could victory claim.”

Magnus did not attempt to show much modesty in his amusing summary. I would also recommend to check out GM Jon Ludvig Hammer’s Blog for another entertaining summary of the soccer match, as well as a lot of other entertaining material.

Now to some of the photos.

Roeland Pruijssers trying his luck at blow-karting.

Anish Giri finished with his own adventure but still wearing the helmet. Talking to Robin Van Kampen and Fred Lucas.

The Playing Hall.

Audience looking at the Invitational Groups. You can see the walls painted beautifully, specifically for the tournament.

C-Group fridge. Drinks provided. We were never thirsty.

Your own before the 12th round.

Last round Media. Have you seen anything like this before? I haven’t.

The winner of the A-Group, GM Hikaru Nakamura, at the Closing Ceremony.

The four top finishers in the A-Group brought on stage. From left to right: Anand, Carlsen, Aronian and Nakamura.

The North Americans at the Dinner Banquet after the Closing Ceremony.

Local Restaurant.

Chess clocks beside the wine in a local restaurant. Only in Wijk aan Zee.

I’d like to thank Peter Doggers of Chessvibes for sending me the photos below.

Anish Giri blow-karting.

I was dressed warmly for the same experience. It was a lot of fun!

Pruijssers-Bluvshtein.

With this post, my report of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament comes to an end. I would like to thank Peter Doggers for helping me get into the event. I would like to thank Jeroen van den Berg and the whole organizing committee for inviting me to play in the event and making it such a spectacular tournament. I would also like to thank my hosts at the Villa ‘t Haasduin Bed and Breakfast, Eduard de Haas and Willemien de Haas, for making my stay very enjoyable. I would recommend the home like accommodation to anybody who is planning to go to Wijk aan Zee (and do not pass on the Danish pancakes!).

This would be the last free day in Wijk. It was time to mix up the rest day activities. Blow Carting (aka Land Sailing) was organized on the beach in the afternoon. The instructors were headed by Arlette Van Weersel, who did not let us fall (too many times). It was a nice addition to the side events. Where else would you go Blow Carting? I have never heard of the activity before. There was a good turnout among the young players from the invited GM Groups. Great photos of this event are to come at a later date.

Round 11

I was paired against Mark Van der Werf for this round with the White pieces. I was hoping to bounce back into the positive scores. I felt relatively confident about my play with the white pieces so far. Things looked good in the early going.

I had to make my first real decision at this point. Black wants to exchange knights or put his knight on d4. My advantage in the position lies in the awkward placement of the black bishop and the weakness of the d6 pawn. In this sense, it doesn’t matter what I do with the knights, my advantage should remain. But how to maximize it? 21. Nd5 21.Nxe6!? was interesting, with the idea of putting pressure on d5 after that. I wanted to keep the knights on to avoid any ideas of getting opposite coloured Bishop endgames. 21.Ne2 Qb6 does not offer white much. 21… Qd7 22. Qd3 Qb5 23. Qxb5 Rxb5 24. b4 Bd8 25. Bf1 Getting my bishop into the action. 25… Rb8 26. f3 cxb4 27. Rxb4 Rxb4 28. axb4 Nc7

This is one of the critical position in the game. 29. Nf4 29.Ne3 d5 30.Nxd5 Nxd5 31.exd5 was interesting. Once again, I was trying to avoid the exchange of the knights. Black will have decent drawing chances in the endgame, but it will be a long one. I thought I will keep my playable advantage alive with the text. 29… Ne6 30. Bb5 Bb6+ 31. Kf1 Rd8 32. Nd5 Kf8 33. Bc4 Rb8 34. f4 Bd8 35. Ra1 Rb7 36. Ba6 Rb8 37. Bc4 Rb7 38. Ra6 Bb6

Another time for a decision. It doesn’t look like I am making any progress and the black bishop is close to finding life. Nc7 is also a threat. I decided to transpose my advantage into an endgame where I have a bishop against the knight. 39. Nxb6 Rxb6 40. Ra4 The exchange of rooks would simplify Black’s task, since my bishop cannot operate on its own. 40… Rb7 It’s clear that white is better, but how to improve? The answer is: slowly. First it’s important to bring the king in. Then expand on the king side, with the pawns, in order to try to create another weakness or entrance. It’s easier said than done. A lot of it depends on what the opponent will do. 41. Ke2 Ke7 42. Bd5 Rc7 43. Kd3 Nf8 44. Ra5 Nd7 45. Kd4 h6 46. h4 Nf6 47. Bb3 Rb7 48. b5 Rc7 49. Ra3 Rb7 50. Bc4 Rc7 51. Be2 Nd7 52. g4 Nf8 53. f5 Nd7 54. g5 hxg5 55. hxg5 Ne5 56. Ra6 Kd7

There is another route to get in, but there is no hurry. I also don’t want to scare my opponent too much, in the sense that I don’t want to alarm him. Alarming opponents usually makes them play well. It’s clear that my rook needs to go to h7 one way or another. 57. Ra3 Ke7 58. Ra1 Kd7 59. Rh1 It was important to calculate that I can allow the opposing rook to invade because he can’t make any threats in my camp. 59… Rc2 60. Ke3 Rc8 61. Rh7 Rg8 62. Kd4 Ke7 Decision time. I got what I wanted, a chance to breakthrough. After calculating variations for a long time, I realized I had no choice. I can’t make progress unless I go for the kill right now. My opponent is preparing to play g6, after which my position becomes stale. 63. Rxg7! Rxg7 64. f6+ Kf8 65. fxg7+ Kxg7 66. Kd5 f6 I went into a deep think again. I had originally planned to play 67.Kxd6, but I could not find a win after the precise 67…Nf7+ 68.Kc7 fxg5 69.Kb8 Nd6! 70.e5 Nxb5! 71.Bxb5 Kf7 72.Bc4+ Ke7 73.Kc7 g4 74.Kc6 g3 75.Bd5 g2 76.Bxg2 Ke6 and I lose my last pawn. 67. gxf6+ Kxf6 68. Kxd6 Nf7+ 69. Kd5 Ne5 70. Bc4 Nf3 71. Kd6 Ne5

I felt like there should be something here. My opponent has been moving his knight back and forth in the attempt to show that I can’t breakthrough. Unfortunately, I could not find the win with only a few minutes of the clock after more than six hours of play. 72. Be2? 72.Bd5! Nf3 73.Bc6! Ne5 74.Kc7 wins for white. Very simple. I could have done the same later on by taking the same type of a route with the bishop (through b3). Nf7+ 73. Kd5 Ne5 74. Bh5 Nd3 75. Kd6 Ne5 76. Kd5 Nd3 77. Kc6? Bd1 followed by Bb3 would still have won the game for me. After this, there is no going back. Ke5 78. Bf3 Ne1 79. Bd1 Kxe4 80. Kb7 Kd5 81. Be2 Nc2 82. Kxa7 Nd4 83. b6 Nc6+ 84. Kb7 Kc5 85. Bf3 Nd8+ 86. Kc7 Ne6+ 87. Kb7 1/2-1/2 We had actually played some more moves that I did not record in here.

Sometimes after a game like this you say “Can’t win them all”. After this, it sort of felt like I can’t win any. Once again I let another half point slip. Our game was the last one of the round to finish. It’s disappointing to press for a win the whole game and come up short against a substantially lower later opponent. Two games remain.

Round 12

I was to play GM Sebastian Siebrecht in this round with the Black pieces. Sebastian was the lowest rated GM in our group. I wasn’t planning on holding back. With two rounds remaining I was gonna keep trying to go after my opponent just as before.

I played the Benoni once again. I wanted to get something complicated, but also something that I am comfortable with, early on. My opponent decided to surprise me early.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Qa4+

This is a very rare move which my opponent hasn’t played before. The idea is to awkwardly place Black’s pieces while he is trying to develop. 7… Nbd7 The right solution, 7… Bd7 is answered with Qb3. 8. e4? 8.Bf4 is the accurate way to try to stall Black’s development. 8… Bg7 9. Bd3 Now 9.Bf4 would have been answered by 9… O-O, where White can’t take on d6 because of Nb6. 9… O-O 10. O-O a6 11. Qc2 My opponent had been blitzing up to this point. I wanted to get into something which I was comfortable with and avoid preparation. Little did I know that we were already far away from his preparation. The blitzing was a bluff. 11… Nh5 11… b5! was better. If white decides to force the issue with 12.a4 c4 13.Be2 b4 14.Nd1 Re8! gives black the advantage. 12. a4 Ne5 13. Be2 f5 Trying to put more pressure on my opponent while also opening up my pieces. 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Bxh5 Qh4 is good for black. 14. exf5 Bxf5 15. Qd1 Nxf3+ 16. Bxf3 Nf6 17. Bf4 Qd7 18. a5 Rae8 19. Na4

Things have gotten sharper, with the position being very close to balanced. White needs to play 27.b3, to have a retreat for the knight from d6. Possible continuations there would be 27.b3 Rd4 28.h3 (28.Nxd6 Rd8, where the knight would still get stuck on b7 if it goes there) 28…h5 27. Nxd6? My opponent goes wrong right away because he missed my next move. 27… Rf4! The knight is not getting out 28. Nxb7 Qe7 28.d6 Qxb7 29.d7 Rd4 also wins for black. White has no choice but to go down a piece. 29. b4 White hopes for compensation after 29… Qxb7? 30.bxc5. 29… Rxb4

30.Nd6 is answered with 30…Rd8. The knight is still stranded in the enemy’s camp. The rest of the game is easy. 30. Nxc5 Qxc5 31. d6 Rd4 32. d7 Rd8 33. Rde1 R8xd7 34. Re6 Qf5 0-1

It was good to get this win. The Benoni proved to be a reliable opening for me once again. My opponent blundered when he got the chance. Fatigue might be getting the better part of the players at this point. I feel like the quality of the games has gone down in this long and energy consuming event.

Round 13

I was paired against Ivan Ivanisevic in the last round. Ivan was the second seed in the event and currently in third place, a full point ahead of me. I was looking forward to this game. I enjoy playing higher rated opponents, as those games present a bigger challenge than coming into rounds with the mindset of having to win games. I also thought of this last round as a warm up for Aeroflot. The tournament standings told me I needed to win this game.

My opponent generally plays the Nimzo or King’s Indian setups, which is why his second move came as a surprise to me. I decided to avoid his preparation with my reply and we soon transposed into a Nimzo Indian where White plays g3.

I remember looking at this move before, but I was mainly on my own from now on. I replied to this rare idea confidently. 7. Qd3 Nc6 8. Ndb5! Creating immediate problems for Black. 8… Qb8 9. Bf4 Forcing black to either weaken the d5 square forever or get into an annoying pin with 9… Ne5. 9… e5 10. Bg5 a6 11. Bxf6 axb5 White is also better after 11…gxf6 Na3, where Black’s pieces are awkwardly placed and the king’s safety will be challenged soon. 12. Bxg7 bxc4 I knew that my opponent preferred positions where there is chaos on the board and there is little to change about the nature of the position now. I am not one to avoid those positions either! 13. Qb1! The idea is simple. I am trying to avoid any unpleasant squares with my queen as I retreat to safety. Black is forced to move the rook. 13…Ra3 is answered with 14.Qc1. 13… Rg8 14. Qxh7 Rxg7 15. Qxg7 d5

What a wild position. White is up an exchange and a pawn up. I took the easy way out at this point. 16. Bg2?! Objectively better is 16.e3! Be6 17.Bg2, with Black not having enough play with his pieces. With the text I give back a full piece but safely castle my king. It is Black who will have to defend while White is playing risk free. 16… d4 17. O-O dxc3 18. bxc3 Bxc3 19. Rac1 Nd4 20. Kh1 20.Bd5 Qc7 21.Kg2 was stronger. 20… Bd2? Black needs to return the bishop to the defense of the king with 20…Bb4, followed by Bf8 at some point. 21. Rxc4 Black is in very serious trouble after this move. 21… Be6 Black allows a beautiful shot. Can you spot it?

22. Ra4! It felt nice to play this idea. Black can’t play 22…Rxa4 because of 23.Qg8+ and the taking of the queen. Black has no choice but to give away his e5 pawn. 22… Ke7 23. Rxa8 Qxa8 24. Qxe5 The position is very close to winning. White has a rook and three pawns for the two minor pieces while also maintaining hopes of an attack. 24… Qa4 25. Qc7+ Bd7 26. Qc5+ Ke827. Bxb7 Ne6 28. Qd5 Ba5 29. Rc1 Qa3 30. Rd1 Qa4 Black is running out of moves. There is no need to rush. I would prefer the safe 31.h4 or Kg2 to my next move. 31. f4?! This move does not spoil my winning advantage but gives Black an attempt at counter play by weakening my king. Sometimes it’s good to go for the slow squeeze than the immediate kill. 31… Bb6 32. Rd3 Nd4 33. Qe5+ Kd8 34. Qd6 Qa5 35. Kg2 Qb5 36. a4 Qb2 37. Bf3 Kc8 38. a5 Bc6 39. Kh3 The slower way to win. I did not want fireworks around my king on or around the 40th move, but a faster win was provided by 39.axb6 Qxe2+ 40.Kh3 Qf1+ 41.Kg4 Bxf3+ 42.Kg5. 39… Bd7+ 40. g4 Ba7 41. a6 Qa1 42. Kg2 Qb2

It’s nice to have the White pieces in this position. With four pawns and a rook for the two minor pieces, there is no reason not to increase the material advantage, making Black’s position even more hopeless. 43. Qf8+ Kc7 44. Qxf7 The greedy way is the most efficient one in this position. A rare picture where Black has no pawns, yet the board is full of pieces. White plans to advance the g-pawn next 44… Qb5 Allows for a quick finish. 45. Rc3+ Kb6 46. Qf6+ Ka5 47. Qd6! Threatening Ra3+. 47…Nb3 is answered with 48.Qa3+ and the capture of the knight 1-0

A good way to finish the tournament. This was a spectacular win and one of the most aesthetic ones in my career. Ra4 was a great move to play. I won the prize for the best game of the day in the C Group for this win, the only time I took the prize during the event. With this win, I finished the tied for 4th to 6th place with 7.5/13.

Everything had changed in the last four rounds. I went from +2 back to 50%. I had been playing horribly. With five rounds left I knew that I needed a big change. I also knew that I needed a break from chess. There was a second soccer game. The Dutch wanted a rematch.

The Dutch recruited GM Wouter Spoelman for this match and he was clearly their best player. Our team recruited GM Laurent Fressinet as well as a younger Norwegian player who was playing in one of the Amateur Events. All the players from the previous match came back. So it became 6 on 6. We were leading comfortably. In fact, we were leading so comfortably that we stopped keeping score. There were a lot more spectators than at the first game, including Tania, photographers, and some school kids (we were playing on their field). Soon after we started, Jan Smeets left (not clear if due to injury or another commitment). Two younger kids (not chess players) were recruited from the playground to join the Dutch forces. This did not change the result much. Not as exciting as the first match but a fun and enjoyable game once again.

Rounds 9

I was paired against Tania Sachdev for this round. Tania was the lowest seed in the C group but she wasn’t playing like it. At this point, she had half a point more than me. She had been playing great chess. It became clear to everybody that she was underrated and on the rise.

I had spent a lot of time with Tania and her coach during the tournament. Vishal cooks a mean Chicken Curry which I enjoyed many times during the event. Tania had been getting the upper hand our of preparation in most of her games. With the rest day in hand, I decided to surprise my opponent early on. Well, you can’t surprise your opponent earlier than the first move. But Tania surprised me on the first move as well by playing the French, for the second time in her life. I decided that there is no way she had prepared for me to play e4 and went for my pet Bd3 French. Without preparation it is not easy to play for black. Back when I was playing 1.e4, I had gained a lot of wins with it.

Tania has already spent a lot of time getting to this point. I was still blitzing moves. I had already played two games in this position. The first one in 2000 or 2001 against Yaacov Vaingorten at the Canadian Junior. The second time against an IM from Iceland. Those details are from memory. I had even remembered my analysis from back then 9. c3? After 9. dxe5 Qxd1 10.Kxd1 Ng4 11.Nd2 Nxe5 12.Re1, white is fighting for the advantage. The game promises no advantage for white but a very playable position. I remembered my analysis from 2001. But it was bad analysis. 9… cxd4 The immediate 9…Ng4 is also very interesting. 10. cxd4 Ng4 11. Nbc3 Nxe3 12. fxe3 Qg5 13. O-O Sacrificing the pawn. Tania rejects the offer several times. Bd6 14. Kh1 O-O 15. d5!? An interesting decision, trying to go for a more complicated position instead of simplifying for equality with 15.Ne4. It was a practical decision in the hope of eventually winning. 15… Bb7! The point of black’s play. 16.dxc6 Bxc6 is better for black due to the threat of mate on g2. 16. e4 cxd5 17. Nxd5 Rad8 18. Nec3 Bc8 19. Qa4 Bc5 20. Rad1

20… Rd6?! Tania wants to mate me and is not hiding it. 20…Be6 offers better play for Black, but the position is close to balanced. With the text, White has to solve immediate problems. 21. Qc4 I got a bit nervous when I saw that 21.Qa5 Bh3! 22.gxh3 Rg6 works for black, where white has to give the piece back with 23.Ne7+, giving black a clear advantage. 21… Bd4 22. Nb5 Rg6? Tania would not have been worse after 22…Ba6. Black needed to change gears into fixing the bishop on d4 and not mating White. 23. Qc2

White has everything defended and it is Black who has to solve problems. Black’s position is in a stable condition after 23… Bb6 23… Rh6? Black collapses in time pressure. 24. Nxd4 exd4 25. Qc7! The move Black missed. The queen is very active from c7, defending h2 while also threatening Ne7+. 25… Be6 26. Ne7+ Kh8 27. Rxd4

White threatens Rd8 followed by mate on the back rank. 27… Rf6? 27…Qb5 would have offered some more resistance. The rest of the game is forced. 28. Rg1! The only move, since black plans to make mate threats on g2 if the rook goes elsewhere. 28… Rh6 Hoping for 29.Rd8 Rxh2! 29. Rgd1 1-0 Black resigned because she cannot stop my mating threats or a big loss of material.

An important win but a close call. My opponent fell apart in time pressure. This game shows something about my preparation back in those years. It was good to pull 1.e4 back into play. I felt like it gave me some new energy in a tournament that has not been going well. Now I can seriously consider using it again at my convenience. Maybe it will also keep some opponents busy preparing…

Round 10

I was paired against Roeland Pruijssers in the 10th round. Roeland was having a horrible tournament so far and I wanted to put pressure on him from early on in the game.

13… d5? A serious structural mistake. The position is playable after 13…Qc7. With the move in the game I run into a positional bind where I can’t generate enough play on the queen side. My light square bishop will be useless. This is easy to say in hindsight but an experienced Sicilian player should not be making this mistake. 14. e5 Nd7 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. g5 Qc5 17. f4 Rac8 18. a3 Rc7 19. Rh2 Rfc8 20. Qxc5 Nxc5 21. Rd4 Bc6 22. h5

Play has gone back and forth. White is pushing his pawns on the King side. 23.g6 is not a threat because I will take once and play h6. The real threat is 23. h6 , fixing all of black’s pawns on light squares and opening up the f6 square for the knight. I saw the idea but underestimated its power, even after thinking about it for a long time 22… Rb8? 22…h6 or 22…f6 were necessary in an attempt to generate some play. 23. h6! Fixing black’s pawns forever. 23… g6 24. b4 Nd7 25. Nd1 a5 26. Rh3 a4 This was a hard decision. I decided to lock up the position in the hope that I would be able to hold on to a draw. It’s a slow process, but white should be able to make progress. Worst of all, there is absolutely nothing I can do. I felt that I am worse on both sides on the board and I might as well close as much of it up as possible. 27. Rc3 Kf8 28. Nf2 Ke7 29. Ng4 Kd8 30. Kb2 Ba8 31. Rdd3 Rc6 32. Rxc6 Bxc6 33. Rc3 Kc7 34. Nh2! A scary maneuver for black, as White brings his Knight to d4. I am just in time to reorganize my forces without losing any material. Kb7 35. Nf3 Nb6 36. Rc5 Nd7 37. Rc3 Nb6 38. Nd4 Nc4+ I have no choice but to hope for the exchange of some pieces, making the job of defending my position easier. 39. Kc1 Rd8 40. Rg3 Rc8 41. Bxc4

Which pawn to take with? If I take with the d-pawn, my Bishop is finally out of its cage but the d-file is also open. If I take with the b-pawn I have no life in the near future. 41… dxc4? I went for the more active option but it just doesn’t cut it, because of some good maneuvering for White. 41…bxc4 offers much better drawing chances, where white might have to eventually breakthrough on the king side with f5. 42. Kd2 Kb6 43. Ke3 Bd5 I had originally intended to play 43… Rd8, followed by simply waiting. After a lot of calculating I saw White’s idea of playing Rg1, Ne2, Nc3 and Rd1. The idea is very strong because once White captures on d1 with the knight he proceeds to get his Knight to f6 through e4 or g4. The only idea I have with the bishop is to try to keep it away from those two scares. And so, I had to look elsewhere. In hindsight, forcing my opponent to find this plan would have still offered more resistance than the game. 44. Rg1

I got outplayed in a positional battle. I made two serious strategic mistakes and paid for them dearly. First, I fixed the center by playing d5 and allowing my opponent to play e5. Then I allowed my opponent to play h6 and have the f6 square to aim for the rest of the night. While playing d5 I thought that I would at some point be able to play f6 and gain good activity. That time never came. Poor display of understanding on my part. Trying to calculate too much. This was a similar loss to my game against Bok, where I also allowed a positional bind. I gave my opponent a free hand and he crushed me.

Going into the last rest day things don’t look pretty. Back at 50% with three rounds remaining. Gotta pull it together. On a positive note, I could see the finish line. Maybe this will give a boost to finish the tournament well.

The organizers threw another charming event the night before the first rest day. The organizers held a dinner party with the sponsors, and players from the invited Grandmaster Groups. The highlight of the night was a simultaneous exhibition given by Tania after dinner. She took on high officials from Tata as well as some individuals from the organizing committee. It was also good to see Henrik Carlsen, father of world number 1, play in the simul. The simul was made harder by some of the players competing in the GM groups helping the participants, including some players from the A group!

Rest Day

I went into the rest day in high spirits. 3/4 is a good start. I knew that most of the work was still to come but it’s important to come out of the gate strong. Roeland Pruijssers decided to organize a soccer match on the rest day to keep the younger players entertained. It was a good addition to the event. Below are the players. From left to right: Bluvshtein, Giri, van Kampen, Giri, Hammer, Carlsen, Bok, Smeets, Pruijssers. Photo is taken from this Chessbase article.

The match was in the form of The Netherlands against The World. Team lineups included (in decreasing order by chess rating):

Yep, it was 5 on 4. The Dutch still didn’t have a chance. We played six mini-matches, each up to 5 goals. The Dutch won the first one. Upon some reorganization of the World Team, we won the next 5 without serious difficulties. I’m not sure that us having the higher average rating was the deciding factor. The Norwegian counter attack (Carlsen and Hammer) was certainly a part of the story. I played the role of goaley/last defender, but still managed to score a few goals when deserting the net seemed opportunistic. We were definitely out shot in this game, but our opponent’s defense was lacking. A very enjoyable game all around. You can find some photos from this game here. Lucas was nice enough to leave a copy of the photo above beside the boards of the players who took part in the game. Thanks Lucas!

Round 5

It was time to get back to work. I felt that the soccer game was good to relieve some stress caused by the tournament. I played Daniele Vocaturo with the black pieces next.

This game was another mainline Berlin. I was surprised to meet it again, since my opponent never went for the mainline before. He had some decent preparation, which I had little problems equalizing against.

By the time I reached this position I knew my opening went fine. I have different ways to equalize. The main ones are the text as well as 21…Re8. 21…Ne7 Not 21… Be6? because of 22. Ne4, with the additional threat of 23.Ng5+ 22. g3 Rg8 23. Nxd5 cxd5 24. Ng2 c6?! I didn’t want to play this move. I was calculating 24…c5! for a long time. I wasn’t convinced that I would be the one fighting for the advantage after 25.Ne3 d4. On a second look, I feel like black is the one pressing in that position. I was unhappy with how stale the position is with the text. It’s just about equal. 25. c4 Ke6 26. Ne3 f5 27. cxd5+ cxd5 28. Kf1 f4 29. gxf4 Bxf4 30. Re1

The position is still roughly balanced but it’s clear that if anybody is running into any danger, it’s black. 30… Kd7?! I should have played 30…Kf7 31.Ba3 Bxe3 32.Rxe3 Nc6, where the position is equal. White’s bishop is poorly placed. My king is better placed on f7. 31. Bf6 Bxe3 32. Rxe3 Nc6 The position is still roughly equal but I have to watch out. I always have to be calculating moves like Rg3, with the offer of exchanging rooks. My h-pawn can become a weakness. My d-pawn is not much of a threat with the white king so close. 33. Bb2 Rg5 34. Ke2 Kd6 35. Rf3 d4 36. Rf7 Ra5 37. a4 b6? It was time to draw the game with a firm series of moves. I was low on time and was calculating 37…b5 for a long time but I missed a crucial idea. After 38.Rf6+ Kd7 39.Rf5 there is the simple 39…bxa4 40.Rxa5 Nxa5 41.bxa4 Nb3! where White can’t play 42.Kd3 because of 42…Nc4+, with an easy draw. In the game black runs into some difficulties. 38. Rf6+ Kd7 39. Kd3 Rd5 40. Rf4 Nb4+ 41. Kd2 Nc6 42. Kd3 Nb4+

I am so close. Half a point is within arm’s reach. Black has a simple stance which white cannot breakthrough.64… Rf2+? This move complicates the matter. I started hallucinating at this point, miscalculating many variations. I thought I can let my opponent’s king go to a6 because I grab his pawns quickly. I can’t quite explaining my reasoning for that. The simple 64…Kb7! draws on the spot, since I then just start checking. Once the white king goes to a3 I put my rook on h2. 65.Kc3 Rf3+ 66. Kc4 Rf4+?? There is no going back after this. The simple 66…Kb7 Rd8 Rf4+ Rd4 Rf5 should still be a draw. The rest is easy for white. 67. Kb5 Rb4+ 68. Ka6 Rxb3 69. h5 b5 70. h6 bxa4 71. h7 Rh3 72. Ra8 Rxh7 73. Ra7+ 1-0

This was a tough one to take. I knew there was an easy draw but decided to go for the more forcing alternative which I hallucinated to also be a draw. Fatigue got the better of me. It was a soft loss. I gave away half a point. It’s hard to not call myself names when describing this game, but I will hold back. I would like to believe that “this stuff happens”, but instead I find it unacceptable. I need to figure out how to not let this happen again. That evening was a depressing one for me. I knew chances to win were slipping away. I also knew that it would be harder to play normal chess after this. It’s hard to eliminate a game like this from memory. I tried to look at the positive side. The second round showed me some good luck. This round showed me some back luck. This reasoning would not be enough.

Round 6

In hindsight, maybe I should have tried to play something very safe and force a dry and boring draw in this game with the white pieces. This is only in hindsight. I wanted to get back on the right track. I also knew that it wouldn’t be easy against the top seed, GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev. Here is the game.

I played my opponent at the 2010 Olympiad. It was my opponent who deviated first from our previous game on his 5th move. I didn’t get any advantage out of the opening but then my opponent gave me a chance to fight for it.

19. a4! Opening up the queen side for my pieces. 19… b4 20. a5 The point of my previous move 20… Qc7 21. Na4 Qxa5 22. Nxc5 Qxc5 23. Qd2 It was a hard decision. I wanted to continue playing with the initiative, but a pawn is a pawn. I can’t regain the pawn and fight for an advantage and decided to play this more energetic move. 33… Nb8 My opponent should have preferred 33…a5, where his queen side pawns stand better than in the game.

24. Rfc1 Continuing to bring all my pieces out. 24… Qb6 Now it’s time for me to figure out the best course of action. It’s a hard decision, and I chose a less than optimal one. 25.Be3 is answered with 25…Rcd8. 25. Qe3?! 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Be3 Rd8 27.Qc1 Qb7 (27…Qd6!? 28.Qc2 gives white very good compensation) 28.Ra4, followed by a possible Qc4 would have given white an advantage. 25…Qb7 26. Bf4 26.Ra4! would have kept the advantage, since black is unable to keep his extra pawn for very long. 26… Rfd8 27. Ra5 Nfd7

It’s still not too late for white to get out of the mess. The rook is poorly placed on a5. 28.Ra4! would give white good play. 28. Bd6?? After this, the game is over. I offered resistance but there is no way to get away from the fact that any resulting endgame will be winning for black. 28… Rxc1 29. Qxc1 Qb6! I saw this move while playing my 28th move. What I missed is that after 30.Bc7 (after which I stopped calculating the variation) there is 30… Rc8. 30. Qc7 Qxc7 31. Bxc7 Rc8 32. Bxb8 Nxb8 33. Bd3 Rd8 34. Bxa6 Rd2+ 35. Kh3 Nc6 36. Rc5 Nd4 37. Rc8+ Kh7 38. Rd8 Nxf3 39. Rxd2 Nxd2 40. e5 An attempt to get some activity in this endgame instead of being ground down. 40… Nf3 41. Kg4 Nxe5+ 42. Kf4 Nd7 43. Bb5 Nb6 44. Ke5 g5 45. Bd3+ g6 46. Kd6 Kg7 47. b3 Kf6 48. Be4 g4 49. Bb7 g5 50. Kc5

I blundered in a very tense position to lose the game. This loss was caused in part due to my 5th round game. Those ones are just hard to swallow. I lost it without a decent fight. When I started playing well, the damages were not repairable. Back to 50%. Seven rounds remain. Gotta pull myself together. To come are two games in a row with black…

Round 7

I was paired with against Jan Willem de Jong for this round. I needed to bounce back this round. My opponent was currently in last place in the standings and I knew that I needed to put pressure from early on in the game.

I decided to play a Nimzo Indian. Something relatively solid but a usual weapon of mine. I thought for a while about my 7th move, mainly because I didn’t want to play 6…Bxc3 and give my opponent easy play in the mainline.

Both sides look solid enough. After some calculations I went for the aggressive 14… f5!? This is not the best move in the position, objectively speaking. However, it’s not a very pleasing move to see from your opponent when you are last in the standings. 15. Nxe4? Long lines that ensue after 15.Bb5 c6 16.Nxd5 cxd5 17.Qc7 Bc8 18.Bc6 Rb8 turn out to be very unclear. My opponent cracks under pressure with his response to my aggression. 15… fxe4 16. Ne5? 16.Nd2 is still close to equal. Nxe5 17. Qxc7 Qxc7 18. Rxc7 Rf7 I am not quite sure which part of the variation my opponent had missed. It could be that he missed that after 19.Rfc1 I have the strong 19…Nd3! and not 19…Nc4 20.R1xc4! dxc4 21.Bxc4, winning for white. 19. Rxb7 Rxb7 20. dxe5 Re8 21. f4 exf3 22. Bxf3 Rxe5 23. Rd1 Rd7 24. Kf2 Kf7 25. Rd4 Ke7 26. Ke2

We pretty much arrived at this position after the opening. Black is up a clear exchange, but the win is not easy. White is rock solid. It’s important to take baby steps in this position and play with a clear plan. White does not want to do anything. Black can fix his opponent’s pawns. I decided to place my pawns on h5 and g6, to limit the activity of the white pieces. I also decided to play a5 later on the queen side, potentially thinking about ideas with b5 and b4. I knew my opponent was content with not moving a finger. 26…h5 27. Kd2 Ke6 28. h3 g6 29. b3 Re7 30. Rd3 Rc7 31. Rd4 a5 32. Rd3 Rc5 33. Rd4 Kf6 34. Rd3?

That time of the game where a few decent moves need to be made to finish the battle. There are a lot of ways to do that. Ra4+ 50. Kc3 b2 0-1 White resigned as he has no way to keep his only pawn.

I was satisfied with this game. It was rather uneventful. My opponent blundered very early on and for the rest of the game I was converting my extra material. It was good to forget about those two losses from before. A lot of work was still to be done.

Round 8

I was paired against Benjamin Bok for this round. Benjamin is one of the rising stars of Dutch chess at the young age of 15. I was to play black.

I am already in some trouble here. The trouble is long-term. I should have taken on f4 when I had the chance. I don’t have much play after 13…exd4 14.Bxd4. The game is not any better. 13… Nd7 14. d5! Plain and simple: lock the position in the center and then mate the opponent on the king side. My opponent has all the right tools in the position for just that. 14… Ba6 15. dxc6 Qxc6 16. g5 f6 17. h4

It looks like black has sufficient play, but in fact, nothing works. I thought I would be able to play d5 at some point but I have no such luck. White continues to improve his position and there is not much for black to do about it. Nc5 18. Rf2 Rad8 19. Ng3 Qe8 20. h5 Bc8 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. gxf6 Bxf6 23. Qg4 Bg7 24. Raf1 Qf7 25. Qg5 Qf6 26. fxg6 Qxg5 27. Bxg5 Rd7

Things have gotten worse. I am now down a pawn and that pawn has gone pretty far. I was hoping my opponent would start playing safely now but he correctly goes for the kill. 28. Nf5! Re8 29. Bh3 Ne6 30. Nh6+ Kh8 30…Bxh6 31.Bxh6 is also hopeless. The game allows for a pretty finish.

31. Bxe6 Rxe6 32. Rf8+ Bxf8 33. Rxf8+ Kg7 34. Rg8# 1-0 A pretty mate.

This wasn’t a good game on my part. My opponent punished me for sloppy play by delivering a strong attack. I was unable to put forward anything close to sufficient resistance. I was not playing with urgency in the opening. Urgency is very important in the Pirc. My opponent won the prize for game of the round for this win.

Benjamin’s father cooked dinner for some of the C group players at the “House of Nature”, where Benjamin and Roeland were staying. Another rest day was to come…

I flew into Amsterdam very early on January 13th. At most tournaments, it is customary for players to arrive a day before the first round. The organizers of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament do things differently. I was greeted warmly at the airport by the part of the organizing crew in charge of transportation. Without any delay and without any other passengers in the car, I was driven to Wijk aan Zee. In the car I found out that the organizers hire a professional taxi service for the event, to transport all people involved in the Grandmaster groups.

I was taken to a small Bed and Breakfast called Villa ‘t Haasduin. The photo is of the main building, where breakfast is served. The guests stay in a side building not seen in this photo.

Out of the invited players, only Tania Sachdev and I would be staying at this location. Tania’s coach, Vishal Sareen, would arrive a few days later. Upon seeing my room I was very pleased.

The photo does not do the room justice. Missing in the photo are a second bed, tv, fridge, kettle as well as other things. The hosts, Mr. and Mrs. de Haas, helped make our stay very enjoyable. The invited players from groups A and B would be staying at Hotel Zeeduin.

The players were asked to arrive early to Wijk aan Zee for two reasons. There was an Opening Ceremony for the C Group, as well as a Welcome Party for the A and B groups. The event took place at Hotel Zeeduin. It was a great atmosphere with all of the top players from the event. The C Group had to do more work on this day with the drawing of lots, which included each of the players pressing the Space Button on a laptop, thus drawing a random number. The numbers that were drawn are below (quality is not very high):

I got number 11 in the pairings, which meant more games with Black. As always, receiving more Whites is seen as a success on those occasions. You can find great photos from this night taken by Fred Lucas at this link. Fred is known as the most famous chess photographer out there.

The next day brought more excitement with the Official Opening Ceremony. This would include the drawing of lots for the top two groups. This event took place at The Pavilion. You can find some photos in this link.

The ceremony was spectacular. The house was packed. There were Tata Officials, Politicians, and even some good chess players. The Opening Ceremony was one of a great one. Below are some of my own photos.

Before the beginning of the ceremony.

A-group participants on stage.

B-group participants.

It was good to catch up with some of the players I had not seen in a while. It was also good to see some a lot of faces that I saw just two weeks earlier in Groningen. I knew this was the beginning of a long event. The atmosphere was like nothing I ever witnessed before. The small town of Wijk aan Zee loves chess and chess has become a part a part of the community throughout the tournament’s 73 year tradition.

Round 1

It was time to get to work. I felt like I was well adjusted to the time and was looking forward to the first round. I was to play GM Katherina Lahno with the black pieces. We had played at the 2004 Montreal International with the same colours, when I came out victorious. Below is our most recent encounter.

I came into this tournament with a simple strategy: put pressure on my opponents early in the game. I did just that in this round. My opponent started thinking after my second move. I have been saving the Berlin Wall for the right time and I thought this would be it. Surprising opponents like this isn’t always good. I felt like I had worked enough on this opening to test it out here. My opponent has never gone for the mainline before but decided to do just that against me.

My opponent had already spent a lot of time and I decided to not play the more forcing 15…Nd4, even though it is more sound than my 15…h4. At this point I was left with no choice because 17.c4 is coming, with the threat of 18.Ngxe6 fxe6 19.Ng6+, winning the exchange. The game continued with 16…Nd4 17. Rad1 Ne6 18. Nfxe6 Bxe6 19. Nxe6 Kxe6 and we reached a completely equal and harmless position. I did not quite expect my opponent to be so willing to go for this. White has a better pawn structure but black has a very active king.

20. f4 Rad8 21. Kf2

I wanted to stir up some interesting play. With my h-pawn fixing my opponent’s h and g-pawns, my pawn structure does not appear to be worse. I should have pressed with 21…Kf5 22.Kf3 c5, with the idea of putting pressure along the c-file with moves like Rd4, or c6 followed by Rd5. Another possible idea is to prepare g5 by first playing Rg8. Black is playing risk free there. I just didn’t think there was much to work with. I went with the far more aggressive 21…Rd5 22. c4 Ra5?! White has to solve the issue of her queen side pawns. The problem is that those problems are not too hard to solve. 23. a4 b5 24. axb5 Ra2+ 25. Kf3 cxb5 26. cxb5 Rb8 27. Ra1 Rb2 28. Rxa7? my opponent should have played 28.Rf2 with dead equality, but instead gave me some chances with her continuation.

28…Rxb5 29. Rxc7 R5xb3+ 30. Ke4 Rb4+ 31. Kf3 R2b3+ 32. Ke2

I had sacrificed a pawn for the activity and was hoping to get my opponent’s king in some trouble in the middle of the board. I have the draw at my disposal with checks anytime I want. I played the inaccurate 32…Ra4? after which 33. Rfc1 threatens a perpetual check, not allowing me to take white’s f and e-pawns. I should have played 32…Rg3 33.Rf2 Ra3! 34.Rc2 Kf5 where white still has some problems to solve. The game continued with

We agreed to a draw. Hard to say it wasn’t a serious battle. It was a pretty boring one at that. I was unable to create enough problems for my opponent. On the flip side, I never stood worse in my first attempt with the Berlin Wall. It’s a decent start.

Round 2

I was paired against 16 year old GM Swiercz from Poland with the white pieces. I had to get used to the fact that my opponents in this tournament would be very young. You can see the future of chess in all sections of the Tata event.

The battle started off with a playable position in my usual e3 and Nge2 Nimzo Indian. I didn’t have any advantage at the start but I was familiar with those positions. My opponent started making strange moves with 11…Bd7.

We arrived at the position above. 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Rb1 Bxf4 21.Bxf4 Nd5 does not give white any hope of an advantage. I had other plans with 19. Nxd5! (Should be noted I made the same move in a similar trick against van Kampen in Groningen) Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nxd5 21.Qxd5 a4 . For now, white is up a pawn. Black’s pieces are more active, but it is clear that white is the one playing for a win. I was close to playing 22.Bg5? in this position but noticed 22…Ra5 at last, where black is able to equalize. It’s good to see it, but bad to not see it instantly.

A lot has changed. My opponent has not been defending tenaciously and I have really gotten my way. Black is trying to get some counter-play by advancing his h-pawn. The game continued with 28. d6 h3+ 29. Kf1 Played to avoid putting my king on g1 and worrying about threats with Qg2 mate 29… Bf6 30. Qd5 Qg4 31. d7 Rc2 32. f3? I should have played the very strong 32.Qe4 Rc3 33.Rd6!, threatening Qe8+ and Rxf6. The game would have been over shortly. Added to that, black runs out of useful moves.33… Qg6 33. Qe4 Rxh2 34. Qxg6 fxg6

Leading to this point, I have been trying to simplify the position too much instead of winning the position with the pieces of the board. The 35th move is going to be hard to explain for both sides. I played 35. Bc7?? White would still have the advantage after the simple 35.Kg1. I had other plans. I thought I was winning. Bc7 looks natural. The game continued with 35…Rf8?? Why all the question marks you ask? Well, 35…Rc2, threatening to queen the pawn with 36…h2 as well as attacking the bishop would have won the game instantly. We both missed the idea. Amusingly (trying to throw humour on a not very amusing situation), I only found out about the blunder after reading an e-mail from IM Raja Panjwani as he was following the game and wondering what’s wrong with the idea and asking if he is just hallucinating. I had little trouble winning after 36. Kg1 Rg2+ 37. Kh1 Bd8? 37…Rc2 would have offered black better chances. 38. Bd6 Rf7 39. Bc5! This patient move threatens the unstoppable Rb8 and wins a piece for white. 39...Kh7 40. Rb8 Bc7 41. d8=Q Bxd8 42. Rdxd8

In the position above, white threatens 43.Rh8 mate and black has to worry about the safety of his own king first. The rest was simple. 42…g5 43. Rh8+ Kg6 44. Rb6+ Kf5 45. Rxh3 1-0

What a game. To miss something as simple as 35…Rc2 is a big concern. The idea of Rc2 followed by h2 was just not one that my opponent and I were looking for. It felt like a lucky break. It could have turned out a different way. I need to find a way to eliminate those misses because they can cost a lot of points. It’s good to be at +1 and not at -1.

Round 3

I was paired against the World’s Youngest Grandmaster, at 14, in Ilya Nyzhnyk in the third round. We had played less than three weeks earlier and I witnessed Ilya’s last norm. The kid can play. I was to play him with black again. I felt like our last battle left a good precedent for my confidence level against him.

Somebody was going to deviate from our Groningen opening. I thought that my opponent might deviate before we reach move three but I guess he had good preparation for 3…Bb4+. I had prepared the Benoni. He does not have much experience in it and I thought this would be another good opportunity to create some dynamic problems for my opponent to solve in the opening.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. a4

White has just played 6.a4. I must admit, I have never seen this move before. It’s a very rare move. I went into a deep think. What does white want to do? In the Benoni, white generally plays a4 in response to a6, in an attempt to stop black’s expansion on the queen side with b5. But in this case, white weakens the b4 square unnecessarily. I was trying to find a way to render this move useless. I had also realized that my opponent planned 6…g6 7.Ra3 Bg7 8.Re3+ Kf8. I stopped looking at the line once I saw the check. However, that final position is completely playable for black with the general future idea of Kg8, h6 and Kh7, where the King finds safety. I found a way to confuse the matter some more. 6…Bg4!? I want to double white’s pawns and play against them. Generally, white tries to avoid this exchange with Nd2 in this opening. In this situation, the d5 pawn is not defended. My opponent continued in a natural way. 7. Nc3 Bxf3 8.gxf3 g6 9. Qb3 Na6! continuing to play dynamically. Qxb7 will always be answered with Nb4. Other replies would place Black’s pieces awkwardly. Then we reached the position below. 10. Bg5 Nb4 11.Na2 Bg7 12. Nxb4 cxb4 13. Qxb4 O-O 14. Rd1 h6 15. Bf4 Nh5

White has an extra pawn but all of black’s pieces are developed. I had just played 15…Nh5!, continuing to create problems for my opponent. White could have tried 16.Bxd6 a5 17.Qa3 Bxb2 18.Qxb2 Qxd6, where black has good compensation for the pawn deficit. 16. Bd2 a5 17. Qb3 Re8 18. Bg2 Qh4 19. e3 Nf4 My pieces are coming fast, but white’s position is quite solid after 20. Kf1 Nxg2 21.Kxg2 Qg5+ 22. Kf1 Qh5 23. Kg2 Qg5+ 24. Kf1

I was trying to find a way to play for more but found nothing better than a repitition. 24…Qh5 25. Kg2 White could have kept the fight going with 35.Ke2 Re5 36.Qxb7 Rf8 37.h4! but things would have been very complicated after 25…Rf5 26.Rh3 Rxd5, where white is up a pawn but black has the better piece coordination. 25…Qg5+ 25…Re5 would have been answered by the strong 26.h4, where black is having trouble creating sufficient counter-play. 1/2-1/2

Decent game overall. I was satisfied with the fact that I played so many energetic games in such a short battle. We did not make a lot of moves but we made the most of the ones we did make. I knew that Nyzhnyk is as dangerous as anybody in the event with the white pieces, with which he was on a tear throughout the tournament.

Round 4

This round brought a familiar face to my board once again, in IM Robin van Kampen. Robin is 16 years old and has also just made a norm in Groningen. I was to have the white pieces against Robin once again.

I was relatively happy in this position. Robin has been blitzing all his moves so far. I stopped being happy after 11…Ne4! I beat the preparation off pretty well but could only do it for so long. 12. Be1 Nec5 13. Qd1 Bxe5 14. dxe5 b6 White’s position is not very comfortable at this point. A lot of weak pawns and the bishops are not doing much. I decided to follow an aggressive plan 15. f4 15.b3 followed by Na2 might have been preferable, where White does not let black into his camp. I did not have the mentality of equalizing at this point. 15… Nb4 16. Bg3 Ba6 17. cxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxa6 Rxa6

White only has one hope: take advantage of those dark squares. Black is very happy with his current pawn structure which keeps the d-file open and makes it difficult for me to activate my bishop. 19. Nxd5 There is nothing special about this move, but it really makes black think. All three captures are reasonable alternatives. 19…cxd5! My opponent chose the right capture. 19…exd5 is answered with f5 and 19…Qxd5 is answered with Qe2, where I have good activity in both cases, largely due to the stranded a6 rook. 20. Qg4 This was a semi-bluff. Of course, I want to mate my opponent. But the question is, will I succeed? I feel like Black’s chances are better after 20…Ne4 21.Bh4 Qb8, where mate on g7 will later be stopped by a maneuver involving a rook lift and Qf8. Nobody wants to calculate getting mated. It feels better to stop the attack before it started. 20…f5? This is not a fatal mistake but it was a relief for me to see this move. With the position opening up the worst should be behind me. Now the position is balanced 21.exf6 Qxf6 22. Qe2 Ra7 23. Qb5 Qd8 24. Rac1 Qd7 25. Qxb6 Nxa4 26. Qd4 Rb7

Robin went for a forced line with his 24th move which got him into some trouble because he missed my next move 27. Be1! Simple, I need to get my bishop on the long diagonal. 27…Rxb2 is answered with Ra1, winning material. My opponent is unable to offer any resistance and collapses within a few moves. 27…e5? Necessary was 27…Nxb2 28.Bc3 Nc4, followed by a run with the king. White would still be clearly better, but the game is less tenacious. 28. fxe5 Rxf1+ 29. Kxf1 Rxb2 30. e6 Qxe6 31. Rc7 Qf5+ 32. Kg1 Qf8

Black has stopped the mate but now it is time for the final blow. There are several ways to win and black has absolutely no threats. 33. Qxd5+ Kh8 34. Qe5+ Kg8 35. Qe6+ Kh8 36. Rc8 1-0

The opening was a scare. It’s never pleasant to have your opponent blitzing moves while you feel like your position is getting worse. I was able to fight back and complicate the position. It felt like Black was never quite able to pull himself together for a serious battle. That can happen when your opponent is spending a lot of time in the opening.

I was very happy with 3/4 before the first rest day. Vocaturo was the leader at 3.5/4. More on the rest day next…